Magic Defense is the total magical defense that is factored upon magic damage, which is generally based on MATK as whole or partially. However, there are exceptions.
The descriptions used here refer to Hard and Soft MDEF. These names are used for clarity. The vast majority of players do not use these terms in general conversation, and instead refer Armor Mdef (hard) and INT Mdef (soft). Hard MDEF works as a relative reduction, whereas Soft MDEF is a subtractive reduction.
To obtain the final damage,apply Hard MDEF first and then apply soft MDEF.
It is shown as A + B in the Status Window, where A represents the Soft MDEF and B represents the Hard MDEF.
Hard m. defense, also known as "armor" or "equipment" m. defense reduces, incoming magic damage multiplicatively.
Damage after Hard MDEF = Damage × [(1,000 + HardMDEF) ÷ (1,000 + HardMDEF × 10)]
For example, a player with a Hard MDEF of 60 will have incoming m. damage reduced by about ⅓, and a player with a Hard MDEF of 125 will have incoming damage reduced by half.
Hard m. defense has a base value of 0, and is increased by equipment, some skills, and items.
Every 1 Hard M.DEF provides resistance vs. the following Status Effects:
Decrease AGI: Decreases chance from being inflicted
This section is incomplete. This section is still under construction. There may be more entries that have not been noted. See the Talk Page for more information.
Soft magic defense, also known as "INT" magic defense, reduces incoming magic damage directly.
For example, if a player has 25% MDEF Bypass from Expiatio buff, 70% MDEF Bypass from Armor of White Thread [1], and Odin's Power Level 2 (-40 MDEF) is casted on an enemy with 100 Hard MDEF, the enemy's final MDEF is calculated as:
Final MDEF = (100 - 40) x (1 - (25+70) ÷ 100)
The skills and equipment below are known to bypass MDEF. All effects stack additively.
Bypass 10% of hard magic defense of normal monsters and boss monsters when performing a magical attack. Bypass an additional 1% of hard magic defense of normal monsters and boss monsters when performing a magical attack per upgrade level of the item.
Bypass 10% of hard magic defense of normal class monsters when performing a magical attack. Bypass an additional 4% of hard magic defense of normal class monsters when performing a magical attack per upgrade level of the item, where the effect caps out at 30%.
Bypass 10% of hard magic defense of all race targets when performing a magical attack. If upgrade level is +7 or higher, bypass an additional 20% of hard magic defense of all race targets when performing a magical attack. If upgrade level is +8 or higher, bypass an additional 20% of hard magic defense of all race targets when performing a magical attack. If upgrade level is +9 or higher, bypass an additional 20% of hard magic defense of all race targets when performing a magical attack.
If upgrade level is +7 or higher, bypass 25% of hard defense of all class monsters. If upgrade level is +9 or higher, bypass an additional 25% of hard defense of all class monsters.